7/15/12

I can only take the sound of fireworks so much.Granted it's that time of year when fireworks go off (a lot) and that's fine.But not when you know a certain neighbor of yours will be lighting them starting july 1 straight, every night, until the end of September (usually when his stash runs out). The nights when the humid air on cape cod is so thick you need to chew it before you breathe it, I'll have the A/C on and can't hear the fireworks; I'll only hear a distant rumble much like the sound of distant heat-thunder. Lately, we've had wonderful sleeping weather; low 60's and lower dew points. The perfect time to leave the windows open and feel that cool air caress you as you sleep. So the dreaded boom, crash, hiss of the fireworks fills the air late into the night--until at least 1am, and I have to close one set of windows to stifle the noise a bit.As I try to fall asleep, I think doesn't this man have a job to wake up to in the morning? How much money does he drop on fireworks per year? Isn't he BORED with them by now?His house isn't in my area; it's well behind my house, past the conservation land, along a busy rural road. But since it's all flat land, the sound carries--carries very well.Why aren't other people complaining about this noise? Will I be the only person calling the police begging them to please make him stop lighting them at night? Just the other day, I saw another neighbor, teaching his young son (7 or 10?) how to light fireworks. Yes, light them. Crazy right? This man, the father of a young impressionable mind, outside on a gorgeous summer day teaching his son how to light fireworks? And so they did just that a good part of the day. I stood there, looking out the window in pure shock. Wondering if the young boy loses a finger will Dads' brain FINALLY turn on and say "hey maybe this wasn't such a good idea".

My love for strawberry shortcake is strong. But as of late, I've gotten tired of it or rather I've run out of ideas in which to create "new" ways of making it. So why not try the 'other' fruit--blueberries. Just as tasty when made into a compote. But a blueberry shortcake I've found needs a moister cake than your average shortcake. So I found just the right cake to use, that has a hint of buttermilk in it.This recipe was so good. I received so many compliments on this one--I highly suggest you make this one; you won't be disappointed. I've heard that the cake can deflate? It hasn't happened to me yet. But then again I don't open my oven a lot, I let it do its own thing and never poke at it until it looks "almost done" then I give it one poke.

Blueberry compote is now one of my favorite summer eats. Endless uses.

cook notes:Catherine says that the cake is destined to sink once it cools, but I had no such problem. This cake does not keep well. By day 3 it was already getting hard. So use it up in two days (which should be no problem).

blueberry compote:1 pint of blueberriesjuice of one lemon3-5 TB sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)Cornstarch slurry (1 TB of cornstarch in ¼ cup of warm water)

Heat up In a small saucepan, heat up the blueberries with the lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil until most/some of the berries have broken up and this is visible juices.Take off heat. Get your slurry ready. Add in the slurry when the berry mixture has cooled a bit. Mix well, put back on heat and heat over low heat until mixture has thickened a bit. If it’s too thick, just add some water. I like mine fairly thick. Do a taste test when mixture is cooled to see if its sweet enough for you.

Heat the oven to 375°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan, and set it aside.Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition, then add in the vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Set aside.Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with flour.Make sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next, but don't over-beat it at the end. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top.Bake until the top is puffed and golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving warm or room temperature.

To assemble:Slice up cake and serve with blueberry compote and fresh whipped cream.

29 comments:

Just out of curiosity, is there any way you could please put your whole posts in the RSS feed instead of just your first paragraph? It's somewhat prohibitive to have to click over and open a new window when the whole post could easily be available in Google Reader, etc.

I live in Hawaii and have the same problem with fireworks, not so much on the 4th of July but at New Years. It starts about a week before and lasts till about a week after.I try to leave the island during that time. The noise and smoke is horrible. We have one that likes to light them almost all night long too!!Didn't realize it was such a wide spread problem.

I'm very intrigued by this. I usually steer clear of shortcake because most people serve it on a biscuit like thing and I can't stand biscuits, but this looks more cakey. Is it? My neighbors also shoot off fireworks all the time. They live quite close and more than the noise, I'm afraid they'll start a fire, especially in this drought. Haven't heard them in a few nights, so hopefully they're done . . . until next year anyway.

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com